Killer whales core of study

For the fifth year, marine biologist and researcher Rebecca Wellard will continue her research into orcas, or killer whales, at Bremer Bay.

With little known about the species in Australian waters, Project ORCA (Orca Research and Conservation Australia) has been conducting research on killer whales found in WA waters since 2014.

Researchers are using photo identification and passive acoustic monitoring to study the population of killer whales off Bremer Bay.

Camera IconBec Wellard.

In WA, killer whales are usually found only in Bremer Canyon and Ningaloo Reef.

“In WA there’s only myself and a colleague who are researching into killer whales” Ms Wellard said. “We’re a very small killer whale research team but it’s pretty exciting because there’s no one else who is doing it and no one else who has done it.” Ms Wellard said the killer whale population she found in Bremer Bay has not matched up with any other species in Australia.

“I feel that they might stay within the south coast region, just because of the fact that we haven’t matched them with the east Australian or the central west Australian,” she said.